The first town hall meeting of 2018 was held in the North Star Theatre on January 16th and was very well attended by the community.

City Manager Alan Manning led the discussions on the Strategic Plan and the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget and followed up by answering lots of questions.

Some of the questions led us to compose a couple of primers on the basic finances of the City of Cordova.

Permanent Fund: In 1987, the city fathers established as a separate fund within the finances of the city a fund to be known as the Cordova general reserve fund. Over the years, this fund has become known as the "Permanent Fund."

For our purposes, we should think about the Permanent Fund as Cordova's 'Savings Account.' The purpose for establishing the permanent fund was to provide a continuing source of funding for the capital and operating expenses of the City. It was the intent to assist in minimizing the tax burden to the citizens of Cordova, and preserve in trust assets of the city for the benefit of present and future generations of Cordova residents.

Like your savings account, the Permanent Fund is not something to be used lightly. The Fund principal may be appropriated only by ordinance and must go through a series of public hearings and readings.

And the ordinance cannot even go forward unless all seven members of city council vote in the affirmative or six city council members and the mayor. The mayor can vote only if exactly six city council members vote in favor of the appropriation.